Sunday, December 9, 2018

Kennywood Steel Curtain Coaster Construction Update

We just had our first chance to see Kennywood's new Steel Curtain Roller Coaster since construction has gone vertical. The bright yellow supports of the coaster pop out so nicely with the skyline. They are currently around 100 feet in height, and I can only imagine how imposing this coaster will appear once it reaches 220 feet. This S&S-Sansei (and Vekoma) creation should be amazing. It will top out at 220 feet, have the world's tallest inversion at 195 feet.

Here is a list of some of the spectacular stats on this prototype coaster:

Height: 220 feet - tallest roller coaster in PA

Speed: 76 mph

Inversions: 9 - most in North America

Tallest Inversion: 197 feet - tallest in the world

Length: 4,000 feet

Sky Rocket, with Steel Curtain and the steel plant in Braddock in the background.

The track staging area in the area of the old K-Mart. Look at how aggressive some of those turns will be! The coaster will have some wicked transitions.

While I am not a Steeler fan, the steel based theming of the coaster should be a win for the park. It is also nice to see the park make a nod towards the local steel industry, both past and present. The most robust portions of the region's steel making heritage are located right across the river in Braddock, in addition to the Irvin works on the other side of West Mifflin.

I never thought we would ever see a coaster built next to Racer. It is strange to see, but I really can't wait to see this coaster get done.

If you are looking for a gift for someone, or for yourself, check out our 2019 Roller Coaster Wall Calendar. It is available through the dropdown menu at the top of this page, and through our Etsy Store.

Our 2019 Roller Coaster Calendar

It features roller coasters from many amusement parks, including Knoebels, Holiday World, Waldameer, Kentucky Kingdom, Carowinds, Cedar Point, Family Kingdom, Kennywood, Darien Lake, and Kings Island. These calendars are custom made with photos taken by the authors. The calendars open up to be 17 inches tall by 11 inches wide. Purchases can be made using the PayPal menus at the bottom of this page, and at the top of the page.